Stranger Things and Unfamiliar Faces
by voxinatwitch
Summary: The Doctor is flying in the Tardis when he gets an unexpected message that shouldn't have been able to reach him. When he lands to investigate, he's surprised to learn where it came from.
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor grinned, palming the throttle, and ducked as a lever swung out, now laughing to himself quietly in amusement.

He pushed a button, and tapped out a sequence on some keys—the Tardis jolted, throwing him off balance for a moment. He paused in his nearly frantic efforts to fly it as an alarm sounded.

The words Incoming Message flashed on a monitor before him.

"Oh, what's this now?" he asked himself, frowning.

He hit the button to receive it, saying quietly as the audio feed crackled to life, "Hello?"

"Hi, yes," replied a voice.

"I'm the Doctor," he said. "Who am I speaking to?"

"Yes, of course. I'm an old friend. Please, land, we have much to talk about." The message ended, static crackling in the feedback.

"Wait, what?!" He smacked the side of the monitor, his forehead wrinkling in consternation.

"No, that can't be right. Who could send me a message like this past the security protocols? It would take someone with tremendous power, yeah, isn't that right, Old Girl?" He now addressed the Tardis as if she could reply.

"So! Let's go see who wants to talk to us." He finished his own thought, pausing to crack his knuckles before launching into action.

He pushed a curious sequence of buttons, flicked a switch, and dodged as a lever swung out the other way, bracing for a moment against the edge of the console as the grating, jolting sensation of the landing sequence engaging.

"So, where are we?" He mused aloud, typing rapidly on the keyboard to pull up the landing data.

"Ah…twenty-first century, Christenbury, the English countryside. Wonder who this is that contacted us…."

He headed toward the door, stopping short. "What am I doing? I'm forgetting something….what a I forgetting…?" He thought for a moment, making a face as he did so.

"That's it. I need a banana," he said, turning to open a compartment in the wall, from which he pulled a banana.

"Yes, that's it. Much better," he said, securing it in the front pocket of his jacket.

"It wouldn't do to forget to bring a banana," he said as he approached the doors.

"So then. Allons-y!" He called, flicking the doors open before him.

The sun dappled shade of a flowing stream greeted him, its water winking i the sunlight that filtered down between the tree branches.

"That's noice," he observed, looking about as he walked up the path he was standing on, which ran paralell ot the stream.

He made his way toward a street that crossed it at a low, small bridge.

He pulled his sonic screwdriver from his jacket as he walked, activating it to run a scan.

"No major energy signatures, no major atmospheric or other disturbances. Hmm, curious, since something, something big, definitely got a message directly into the onboard systems." He mused.

"So, the question is, who are you?" He asked himself, scanning the area once more, the sonic's warbling intensifying.

"Who am I?" A voice echoed—the same voice, he realized with a start—from behind some blueberry bushes, around the corner of a fork in the path, a very old, white-haired man appeared.

"I'm the Doctor," he explained, all the while staring curiously at the sonic as it processed the scan results.

"The question is—" The man began

"Wait, wait," The Doctor interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I've got a reading now. And it's coming from you!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Yes, of course," the man smiled mischievously. "But you, Time Lord, you don't recognize me, do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't. But you know me. So, who are you?" The Doctor replied.

"You surely remember, though. The year 350? The Battle of Camelot? You stood on the ramparts, in your fourth incarnation, watching fire rain down."

"Wait…no, no, this thick old head of mine. It's coming back to me…. I know you. I know….M…M something… M, M, M….. Merlin!" The Doctor exclaimed, his face lighting up.

"Yes, Doctor," Merlin returned. "I knew you'd get it, eventually." He laughed, stepping forward to hug him.

"How long it has been, though," The Doctor said, looking the wizard up and down. "So very long."

"Over a thousand years," he said. "For me. But here you are, looking like a young man. Except your eyes. They show the darkness, the ages you have seen."

"My eyes? Yes, I suppose they might. Something probably would, something would have to. You…you don't live this long, see this much, without it leaving a mark." The Doctor mused, his voice somber. "But really, how have you been? It's quite literally been ages, like you said."

"Yes, of course," the man smiled mischievously. "But you, Time Lord, you don't recognize me, do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't. But you know me. So, who are you?" The Doctor replied.

"You surely remember, though. The year 350? The Battle of Camelot? You stood on the ramparts, in your fourth incarnation, watching fire rain down."

"Wait…no, no, this thick old head of mine. It's coming back to me…. I know you. I know….M…M something… M, M, M….. Merlin!" The Doctor exclaimed, his face lighting up.

"Yes, Doctor," Merlin returned. "I knew you'd get it, eventually." He laughed, stepping forward to hug him.

"How long it has been, though," The Doctor said as they hugged, stepping back to look the ancient wizard up and down. "So very long."

"Over a thousand years," he said. "For me. But here you are, looking like a young man. Except your eyes. They show the darkness, the ages you have seen."

"My eyes? Yes, I suppose they might. Something probably would, something would have to. You…you don't live this long, see this much, without it leaving a mark." The Doctor mused, his voice somber. "But really, how have you been? It's quite literally been ages, like you said."

"It's been long," Merlin smiled. "Dull, even. So much has changed, these last several centuries. No more knights coming through, the last of the believers of the Old Religion dying out. I'm all that's left now." He shrugged, taking a few steps to follow the path along the stream. He motioned for the Doctor to follow.

"Yes, how well I know that story," The Doctor replied, his voice heavy as they strolled.

"But it's not all bad, not all dull. There's been good too, of course. There's fewer robbers, no more highwaymen to trick these days. People don't seem to think they need magic anymore. Yet they don't know, now do they? It's right under their very noses."

"Yes," The Doctor said. "I suppose you still watch after Arthur?"

"Oh, yes. Not that there's terribly much to do about that. I guard the portal to Avalon, keep the occasional teenagers who poke around on that island from falling through. That's about it for work these days. But the local pub's quite good."

"Is it, now?" The Doctor asked, grinning.

"Yeah, I was going to ask if you'd fancy lunch, actually,' Merlin replied. "The chips they make are fantastic."

"Well, that sounds good to me," The Doctor said.

"Yeah, it's that way," Merlin explained, pointing off up the path a bit, "And around the corner. Not far."


End file.
